Manchester United Banter Archive May 04 2013

04 May 2013 23:16:24
SAF:"Everything's in place for a big signing. " & that united have a nucleus of young players but, "we may spend something" - Ronaldo? Bale? Falcao? What do you recon guys?

04 May 2013 22:16:34
Just read that Uniteds wage bill is upto 200m (160 million was also initially quoted), perhaps this is why we don't spend as much in transfers? Because our wage bill is so high? If you think about it, our squad is the best as you all know, and has lots of depth. So perhaps having a squad like this comes with negatives of having such high wage bills?

Just an assumption.

I'm sure Sydney will correct me if I'm wrong, but United's wage bill in relation to our turnover is one of the lowest in the league.
That is partly how the financial fair play is being processed.
So I think we are safe on that front.
Nomidfield

I agree with that. We have a very big squad and one part of Woodwards comments not really analysed was about the ability to put two teams of internationals out there which when combined with our growing wage bill could become a necessity for SAF to trim down in order to bring players in.

We also seem reluctant to release young players that don't make it, all of which add to the bill. The bill is also increased by our burgeoning commercial teams who, it has to be said, are successfully increasing commercial revenue.

The outcome could be a trimming of the squad this summer to bring in the quality we crave, plus the release of unsuccessful younger players.

Red Man

Yeh NoMidfield, I think our wage/revenue ratio is only just over 50% (correct me if I'm wrong) which is actually healthy compared with most top teams.

I agree with Red Man too though - I'd like to see us trim a few of the players who make little impact e. g. Ando, Nani, Scholes & maybe Fletcher to retire. Then replace those 4 with say 2 quality players. Quality over quantity should be the way forward because our squad depth is already impressive. We also have plenty of yougsters coming to the fringes of the 1st team squad who will need game time in the next few seasons.

Red Man, which young players do you think we've kept on past when we should?

Also do you think it might not simply be a case of struggling to find buyers for some of these players and that the owners would prefer to get a fee over just releasing them to save wages, as youth wages really
wouldn't be a massive amount?

Mort

Mort

I think there is a level of disappointment when youth don't come on as expected. I think Shappy has expressed that in a later post. Players like Lingard at 20, do we not know yet whether he will make it? Cole? We loaned out Wootton but did we not already know if he was going to make it? It's not just what is there now but the build up over time. It could be that we can't shift them but surely they want to play somewhere and if not with us somewhere else. We appear to carry players who don't seem to be capable of being first team level at our club.

Red Man

Red Man

It's always a balancing act knowing how many to get rid of and how many to keep. When some players are loaned out we still need to have enough to fill the U21's team, so we can't get rid of everyone. It is tricky though and I do agree we should try our best to be ruthless, allowing us to 'fast-track' more of the talented academy players into the reserves.

04 May 2013 20:16:26
If any of the Eds or posters could tell me. How does it work in the championship? Which teams get promoted?
I thought 1st three teams get in but what r all there playoffs
Was just seeing Cardiff vs Hull today and saw the supporters rush onto the field after the penalty was given. What a match. But they are in the 2nd and 3rd spot so was confused with all that reaction.

New to all this

Who ever is first is champion. (Cardiff)

second place is also an automatic promotion. (hull)

then there is the four team that are in the play off section.

3rd plays 5th and 2nd plays 6th in a two legged tie.

the winners go on to face each other at Wembley for the play off promotion place.

JK92

Top two get promoted, the other four teams going into play-offs to decide the final one to go through.

-JakeW

And it's pretty much the same in the other divisions, the final promotion place is settled by play offs from the next 4 teams.

Thanks a lot guys

04 May 2013 21:38:14
With the season essentially finished with the PL wrapped up, and obvious interest in this summer's additions, it is easy for us to look past the last few matches of this year. However, do so at your own risk. This is likely to be the last time (s) we get to see perhaps the most talented footballer of our lifetime, the one and only Paul Scholes, play in a United shirt. With his semi-retirement, and his injury absence in recent months, its been easy to forget about him, but I for one will savor every last minute I get to watch him on the pitch for United. We are likely to never see a player like him again, and I hope others will make the effort to appreciate the last few matches of his United career. I for one would love for him to move into a player/coach role next season, training with the squad in case he's needed, but also gaining valuable coaching experience. So here's to THE United Legend, Paul Scholes.

04 May 2013 22:37:28
well said. He is a true legend.

Id like to see youth get a chance if i'm honest, let scholes play for 70min at our last home game then he can get a big cheer when he comes off.

JK92

I think Powell might take some minutes at CM as the season winds down, but not sure what other youth you see playing in that role. It seems like Januzaj is the only one ready to move into the first team and he's more of a winger/attacker. Carrick has earned a nice summer break, Anderson and Clev never seem to be healthy, etc. Jones might get some time, but I am one of the minority who believes that he will never be a good enough technical player to be a first choice CM, and should stick to being the next world class CB for United. I fear that he may end up like Rooney, played out of his best position for too many matches. i'd be happy with Scholes playing and giving Powell the last 25 mins or so, especially once we get past Chelsea, who I think SAF is going to try and beat with a very strong XI.

Beat chelsea with a strong 11 giggs prefered to hernandez and rooney lol

04 May 2013 18:36:10
Nice to see RVP saying he'll stick with the number 20 shirt because he doesn't want to be harsh on the fans that have bought his top, he also said it has a special meaning to him. (obviously the title)

04 May 2013 19:24:09
The guys a class act both on and off the pitch.

04 May 2013 20:02:39
Also suggests a no# 9.

Guys,. Lewandowski will take the # 9 Shirt.
The idea is clear, play Rooney in the midfield, let's see how he does one whole season and then if he doesn`t do well,. RVP will take # 10 and Sadly Rooney will move to Monaco.

04 May 2013 18:32:40
That was me asking about the possible surgery

Singh

04 May 2013 17:33:44
", it's hardly surprising Red Man looks for the most pessimistic 'anti-Glazer' reasoning behind the manager's quotes. He has always been a glass half empty kind of person.
Sydney!

Sydney

Firstly I don't need to look for the most pessimistic anti Glazer reasoning because unless you have missed the last few years they loaded our club with a major debt to buy a fabulous asset for themselves and gave us every reason to be anti Glazer. In recent posts today you have glorified our spending because we have the "luxury" of spending £25 to £30m on a player or two. The problem is that the top top players cost more than that and we haven't been able to spend that because we are paying multi millions in debt interest to fund the situation our owners got us in. We are sat here looking at every word spoken hoping to hear some ambition from our incoming CEO rather than concern with cost control. I have highlighted a change in our managers comments either side of our CEO statement because every year we seemed to be publicly primed to fall short of the major players at transfer time. You are ok with the £25m ceiling we seemed to have imposed on ourselves recently but I am not and I want to see top quality arrive to challenge in Europe. All too often we have fallen short in Europe because we haven't gone on to get the defining player or two that gets us there. Just when SAF seemed to indicate we might just move forward he appears to backtrack and the change appeared to come after our CEO comments. It could easily be positioning before we strike to get the top players but let's be honest the Glazers have written budget cheques but not the one or two major ones that show we are ambitious. In my opinion (I am allowed one aren't I Sydney?) we have every reason to be concerned as they haven't proved to any of us they are willing to fund the best. People seem to forget Rooney, Rio and Ronaldo the main reasons for our last European success were bought before these owners arrived. We have the same discussion each summer because we hope that this time it really will happen, that one or two top players in world football will arrive. However in each of the last few years we have been disappointed although admittedly at different levels. Yes, RVP was a good purchase and is a very good player but this summer we need our owners to be more ambitious however I can't see it. It doesn't make me a half full person because they have already proved my point by not buying the top players. I would love to be wrong and see Falcao, Ronaldo, Bale type players but the Glazers still have a huge amount to prove to me but obviously not so much to you. You have consistently in posts tried to show they are good spenders, things must look so much rosier from your comfy armchair.

Red Man

Well said love utd hate the glazers

Red Man, no MU fan likes the Glazers, but we do not moan about them in every single post we write. That's the difference. You are entitled to your opinion just like myself. In regards to me "glorifying numbers", in fact what I am doing is using the most accurate figures available. Just like Andy green, Swiss Ramble etc etc, I prefer not to make figures up like some do on here just to make the Glazers look bad. The Glazers are already bad, but let's not lie about the figures eh?

Yesterday I clearly said that I am happy with spending £25m-£30m on players. I do not think we should overpay for players and I do not believe the club would overpay even if there was no debt or no Glazers. I like the way that you use my lowest number (£25m) to make me look bad when we both know I said £25m-£30m. Someone has quickly forgotten we spent £31m on Berbatov in the past (under the Glazers).

Red man united forget that we are a self sufficient football club. We are not Chelsea, PSG, City or Real Madrid being funded by the Spanish government. For a man who works in finance you are an incredibly naive man. Even a bloke from his armchair can see that.

Sydney!

I think red man is showing the same frustration we all have and continue having since the Glazers bought our club.
We all want united to sign the top players, but apart from rvp who has been class and wanted to come, and kagawa, who we got relatively cheaply as his contract was running down, we have not spent on top class players.
Unfortunately, we seem to have a reputation for not going the extra mile to get the top players. And trust me, most of them don't give a toss where they go as they are looking for top wages. The days of we must only buy players who want to play for the club are long gone.
If we want them, then we have to pay thru the nose for them, sad fact, but it is true.
So let's hope for once the Glazers think about the fans and let's hope their footballing ambition matches saf's and the fans.
Nomidfield

Nomidfield, do you expect us to spend more than we make? Do you want us to go into liquidation? People think because City, PSG, Anzhi, Chelsea etc etc can spend £40m on a few players, that everyone can.

We are not being bankrolled by a billionaire, we are spending within our means. We spent £57m the year before last, £42m+ last year. We never made that much in profits after tax.

Sydney!

Nomidfield - Your the exact problem with our fans of this era. You expect the extortionate transfer fees to be paid and expect us to bow down to agents and sign mercenaries that don't want to play for the club and will look to other countries etc after 3 years. I want to see players that want to wear the United badge on their chest and want to play for the love of the game and the club and its fans.

04 May 2013 21:11:22
We have signed top class players under the glazers. We signed hargreaves who was a world class midfielder. Unfortunately he had the knees of a ninety year old. We signed berbatov for a club record fee but again it didn't work out. We spent big on nani and anderson and again it hasn't world out. that's four players who cost a lot and haven't worked out. Yes the debt hasn't helped and maybe, particularly after berbatov, fingers were burnt. Maybe someone, maybe a glazer maybe fergie wants to be more careful with cash because unlike some clubs we do not have a bottomless pit. Red Man talks about spending millions to show ambition, well look what happened to portsmouth, leeds, qpr.

And we were prepared to spend big on Moura and Hazard least we forget

Patzi

Actually SAF baulked at paying over £30m for Moura or Hazard. In the last few years we have heard a lot of "we were in for" stories that didn't happen. Basically we either didn't have the money or wouldn't pay what they were asking but I am sure at that time it suited United to be linked to expensive players. Let us hope this summer is different.

Red Man

Sydney

I have to say you try to lord it over everyone on the site. I am surprised you don't work in finance yourself given the way you manipulate the numbers but you don't work in Finance do you? Your comment about going into liquidation was frankly pathetic. The points made are that without the multi millions in interest we would be able to buy better players and actually if you did know anything about finance you would know there are other ways to fund deals but only if you want to commit to it and this summer we will find out if our owners, who you so studiously protect, will commit. Don't say you don't protect them, because you do then when challenged say they are terrible before setting off supporting them again. They are good businessmen, they got a peach of a deal with us and no doubt they are very savvy. However the future of our existence was put into jeopardy to give them their asset and in recent years we have not been able to flex our muscles in the transfer market as much as we might and should have done to accommodate the takeover. I want to see them commit to our club this summer even if it means them putting some of their own money in, but we won't see that. I haven't forgotten they spent £31m on Berbatov but they got burned with that and to date haven't done it since.

Red Man

Haha, I like no name remark about fans from this era?! I've been supporting united since 66 and have had a season ticket since 1970.
I've seen it all, I've seen the brilliance of Best, the power of Charlton. I've seen the poor team of the early 70s and the exciting teams of tommy doc while it lasted. Then came a load of others who didn't do much.
But thankfully, we then got saf. He has been the best manager ever. So please don't tell me about where we should be spending and living within our means, as saf always broke the transfer records during his early days. No one was going on about living within our means, because our means at the time were mostly invested in the team.
The Glazers are a different bunch, spending is restricted as they are looking after their own pockets. I can't blame them for that, but let's not make them out to be some kind of saviours and united lovers. They are not interested in football and there lies the problem.
Nomidfield

Red Man, I use FACTUAL figures, not estimations from some a poor media source or a child's football website. I use the figures from the accounts. They do not get more accurate than that.

It's people like you who use false figures to make your argument look stronger. Andy Green is against the Glazers and rightly so, but he has no trouble telling the truth about the figures.

I tend to keep a balanced view about things and I do not let my hatred of the Glazers biased my opinions or the evidence. We lose £45m a season paying interest, although a third of that is retrievable in tax.

So just over £30m of that money is wasted on the Glazer's debt. But you have to bare in mind they do not take dividends every year which would be around £30m a season if they wished to take them.

United spend within their means, we do not spend money that we haven't got. Can you tell me what will happen if you spend more than you make? That's right mr finance, you get deeper into debt. Is that what you want?

Now I am about to go on a pub crawl and watch the football. Before you ask I will be taking my armchair with me. Have a good day lads and ladettes and I will continue this convo with a sore head tomorrow.

Sydney!

Sydney

False figures what are you talking about? I rarely go into details so you are barking up the wrong tree.

I would rather go into debt to improve the team than what the other debt did for us. At least improving the team would benefit the club, again unlike the Glazer bond debt.

Lastly do enlighten us on what happened to the share proceeds and where it all went?

Red Man

Agree wrong to spend 30 million plus on top quality proven players when you can get players for just 7 million and hope they make the grade bebe for instance

04 May 2013 17:17:12
And just I said it, bale goes and scores. Fergie, get that man!
Nomidfield

04 May 2013 17:10:40
According to sources, it has come to light that Manchester United has been trying different ways to bring back Cristiano Ronaldo to the club. In fact, club sponsors Chevrolet and Nike had met with club officials to finance the deal but they could not reach an agreement with them. The reason behind this is the fact that Manchester United do not want to invest such a huge amount of money on a 28 year old. Considering that Real Madrid had paid a record amount of money for the player, they would be looking to recuperate a significant amount of it if any club does bid for him.

In fact, the sources also say that Manchester United are more interested in signing Tottenham's Gareth Bale, but that would depend on whether or not Spurs qualify for the Champions League. Therefore, even though the sponsors were willing to fund part of the money required to get Ronaldo, Manchester United are waiting for the final games to be completed to see where Spurs finish.



Art

Personally I would go for Ronaldo every time. He may be 28 however as has been proved by Giggs you can extend your career and Ronaldo does not rely on pace which Bale does to a slightly higher level. Ronaldo has a greater talent and is a level above Bale for me. Bale is a power player and I like him but not at the price Levy would want. Ronaldo and another top player would strike fear into opponents again, plus likely take us closer to European success.
My thoughts on your post are that United have seen what RVP has done and given Ronaldo is on a higher level than RVP would we really let his age be a barrier? I am not so sure. Also SAF has indicated he was interested in Ronaldo but is Ronaldo interested in returning enough to push a move?

Red Man

04 May 2013 16:43:03
I hope Wigan can turn it round but I doubt it. Looks like they are going down which is a shame. I have a soft spot for Wigan since they came into the Prem. Martinez works wonders to get an average at best group of players to play above themselves and even play good football. I think the way Whelan runs the club is good and the way he backs his managers. Plus they are normally good for six points and adding to our goal differance. Lol. I'll be a little sad to see them go. let's hope they pull off a great escape.

What was that you were saying shappy? Just think if Wigan beat Swansea at home Tuesday night that could put Newcastle in the bottom 3 if Sunderland get something against Stoke on Monday.

Red Daz

Lets hope so shappy. They try to play the right way and they are local side. So let's hope they can escape again.
Nomidfield

Shappy

I agree, but it is getting a bit boring every year, a bit of groundhog day. It reminds me of Coventry who always seemed to escape at the last minute.

04 May 2013 17:28:08
Yay Wigan win. The great escape has started. Lol. I want Stoke to beat Sunderland and sends those small minded Mackems down.

If newcastle were to go down I can see a lot of clubs going after they're players, I know cabaye would be a populay target but for me krull would make a great no2 for de gea with lindegaard maybe going the other way or to a club like fulham

I was convinced Newcastle would go down but I think my money is now on Norwich, they can't seem to buy a point

My money is still on Sunderland but would not be surprised if Newcastle end up going down. So glad Villa is getting out of the drop zone.

Shahram

04 May 2013 21:54:22
I'd say it's between Norwich, Wigan and Sunderland now. I think Newcastle will scrap through.

04 May 2013 16:38:34
Can I make a suggestion? Over the last couple of days all we've had is snipets of quotes from Sir Alex and Ed Woodward and there will be other comments made by these two and others at the club between now and the start of the new season.

I think we need to all take what these two and others empolyed by the club say with a huge pinch of salt.

There will say what is best to say to manipulate situations which we don't even know about for the clubs best interests.

They won't say we need to sell whoever as if that doesn't happen then they will be stuck with a player who knows he's not wanted. This would disrupt the balance of the dressing room.

They won't say they are going to make wholesale changes to the squad, as this too would damage the feel good factor of the players.

They won't publically name targets unless its in their best interests to do so. Which it more than likely won't be.

So use abit of common sense people and don't react to these comments. I know its difficult but we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Keep positive, we are league champions for a record 20th time.

We do have a good squad, with lots of good young players who will only play better next season from the experiance they've gained from this season. De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Cleverley, Welbeck, Hernandez will all have gained in experiance for next season so they will likely play better next season. Buttner and Kagawa will have settled and will play better, Young Valencia and Rooney will have better seasons next year more than likely. Carrick Vidic Rio and RvP will still be here playing at a very high level. Maybe a couple of our talented youngsters might step up and have more of and impact next year. Zaha will add sonething different to our team. So even without signing we will be a better team next year. And there will definately be signings, one or two significant signings with maybe one or two signings with potential.

Everything else is just off season fodder to sell papers to fools.

Powell might have a chance to step up. But which other youngsters do you think might make the first team fringes.
I think giggsy was talking about this recently, as the youngsters don't seem to be able to make the next step for one reason or another.
Nomidfield

Top post, there have been masses of twisted knickers on this site for days everytime anyone connected to United says anything!

04 May 2013 17:39:03
Micheal Keane, Angelo Henriquez, David Petrucci (if he can stay clear of injuries) and Jesse Lingard as well as Powell have a chance to maybe make an impression next season. Januzaj is an outside chance next season but I would expect it'll be the 2014/15 season when he get his chance.

I would have said Tunnicliffe had a chance but he seems to have really gone off the boil this season. I think he thought he made it, sadly I think he'll go the way of Morrision and Fryers and end up at another club sooner or later. His drink driving charge hasn't done him any favours.

Lingard makes the list even though his form since he came back from his loan hasn't been great. He was on fire before but I think his lack of game time on loan has knocked his confidence. He didn't fit the Leicester style and in fairness it was a poor choice for him to go there. But he showed enough with the first team on tour last year to suggest he can have a place in our squad.

04 May 2013 15:29:56
Hi Guys, from what I'm seeing is 1-2 players will be signed without sales. Strootman looks a done deal from what I'm seeing and also Lewandowski with rumours of Rooney or Hernandez looking to be moved on over the next season or so I can't see Fergie losing out on a bargain with a year left on his contract. Back to the sales I can see Either Nani, Young or Valencia being moved on along with Anderson and the fringe players like Kiko and Bebe. They will be replaced with Rodriguez and a few potential like Zouma.

So what is it you are seeing that says Strrotman is a done deal?

I'm not seeing anything as a done deal, nor shall we expect to just yet. A lot of clubs are still involved in big games, so I think it will be June before anything happens.
I'm not even sure if any of the ones talked about all the time are targets. Only saf and his staff know the score.
Nomidfield

Well no I'm not saying it's a done deal, I'm just going off what i'm seeing on here and a lot of people are saying it is.

So, because people say its a done deal, other people say it's a done deal. Talk about rumour. Apparently, Ronaldo's coming back as well

You have to have the brains of a gold fish to believe Ronaldo is coming back, when have you seen United spend 60-70 million on a player? They hardly spend that on 3-4 players. Just something for the papers to talk about with Mourinho on his way out

04 May 2013 15:02:01
Ins - Strootman, lewandowski, ronaldo

Outs - nani, Anderson, young, fletcher (retired), scholes (retired),

Promoted - januzzi, daeli, petrucci, Powell.

We will be challenging on all fronts for all the 'big four' trophies

Josh charnley OBE

I'm guessing we're going to have to get used to people spelling Januzaj wrong.

04 May 2013 15:41:11
Your promoted's are all wrong. Powell will get a prem loan, its too soon for Januzaj and Daehli. And Petrucci is too injury prone and won't make it, lad only has to look at grass and he's out for three weeks.

04 May 2013 16:20:03
Considering how many people will spell Januzaj wrong can I propose that we refer to him as Adnan as that is easier for people to spell.

Or jacuzzi!

04 May 2013 14:23:51
Now it's won we can concentrate on the really important things. Where the hell are Percy and Zee?

I've been wondering that for this since christmas! Also Gan/Ngiak seems to have gone missing too.

-JakeW

Here here!

I wouldn't start hoping for the return of ngiak/gan, besides I think he's buried under syd's patio lol

04 May 2013 13:47:38
Most press transfer speculation, as we all know, is just that speculation.
Is it just me? or does the, Real Madrid want cash + Hernandez story, seem realistic.

04 May 2013 10:53:20
"Since the 2008/09 season, the same financial year as Ronaldo was sold Tosic, Berbatov, Valencia, Owen, Obertan, Diouf, Hernandez, Smalling, Bebe, Lindegaard, DDG, Young, Jones, Kagawa, RvP, Henriquez, Buttner, Powell & Zaha.

Sydney!"

I make that out to be well in excess of £200m spending on transfers since then Syd, obviously the wage bill has increased too. No doubting that we would'nt have spent that amount without the Ronaldo sale and we'll never know what could have been on that front.

None of us know what will happen this summer so I've decided to just sit back and wait for now (I'll try my best anyway lol) after yesterdays long debate!

Enjoy your weekend lads, feels a bit strange without something to play for!

But since that financial year we have also sold a large number of players, including some of those listed above. And the total amount we took in from those sales is roughly £150m. So our net spend since 08/09 has been what exactly, £60-£80m max. So a maximum average net spend of £20m a year.

You see you can't discount Ronaldo because it puts our spending in perspective. And it shows that the much lauded £100m over the last two seasons is a bit misleading. I'd like to be proven wrong but I can see a very restrained summer spending wise.

Danny Pughnited

Danny, it's £88m (net) excluding Zaha.

So upwards of £100m when you consider Zaha's transfer fee, signing on fee and agent fees.

Slightly different from your "around £40m" from yesterday or even "£60-£80m" in your previous post.

I do not expect to see a £50m (net) amount spent every season, but I think we could spend around £30m (net) this summer.

Sydney!

Gav, not sure on your maths but if you look at all the ins and outs over those 4 years, net spend is about £25M - £30M. We may have signed a lot but we also sold a lot. We might not know exact fees but from the numbers I looked at, the year Ronaldo left we had a net 'spend' of -£64M. In the 3 years since, our net spend has been about £14M, £38M, £36M. I'm not a doom merchant but people keep mentioning spending £80M/£100M and I simply don't see it happening. I think Net spend will be about £25M so we need to ship some out and shop carefully.

You added an extra season Syd so you could include the Berbatov transfer. That's why the figure is different. But show me the actual transfer figures that prove that it's £88m plus Zaha. Any list I can find shows that since 08/09 we have spent a net of less than £80m so I would like to know how your calculations are coming out differently. Very simply name the player and the amount we paid or received.

Danny Pughnited

Danny mate, I'm with you on this but trust me, you'll wish you hadn't started this shortly

Danny, my figures are straight from the MU accounts. Are you suggesting they are fraudulent? My figures are facts. You cannot dispute them.

There is a difference between a "financial year" and an "EPL season". Berbatov was signed in the same financial year as Ronaldo was sold.

Finances, are calculated from July 1st - June 30th the following year. That is a financial year. Not when the season starts to when it finishes.

Sydney!

Told you.

Lol didn't mean to start another debate honestly!

Danny & AJH

My figures were purely our spending, which was a point we discussed yesterday. I do understand the net spend is much lower.

AJH - like you I'd expect us to average around £25-30m net spend most years so I'm not one of these thinking we're guna go on a mad spending spree. I see 2-3 first teamers joining with 1-2 leaving.

It's difficult to assess our performance in the transfer markets to date because of the huge Ronldo sale and the initial levels of debt. These won't be factors going forwards. I think the last couple of years and next couple of years will give us the best indication of how much the Glazer's are willing to spend each season.

Syd,

Whenever someone mentions transfer fees you say it's in the accounts. But the accounts have much more info than just transfer fees so it would take a bit of time and effort to extract the transfer info from the accounts. But you must have already done this. How else would you have come up with the figure of £88m?

So what I'm asking is if you will post your workings. Post the facts and figures that you used to come up with the figure of £88m. It shouldn't be too difficult because you have already done it. So just show with simple maths how much each player cost to buy and how much each player was sold for. That's all I'm asking for.

Danny Pughnited

In the accounts the figures come under "player net expenditure".

2008/09 - +£43. 96m
2009/10 - £30. 417m
2010/11 - £11. 763m
2011/12 - £57. 916m
2012/13 - £31. 895m (Barring Zaha)

Sydney!

Danny,

I'm assuming your using the 'transfermarkt' figures? I'm not sure why they'd differ so much from the club accounts but one factor might be agents fees.

Also, why are we only looking at spending since 08/09 specifically? The last 4 years show a net spend of around £40m on that website but the 4 years before it (from 2005) show a net spend of around £110m which looks a lot more healthy.

That's why I say the Ronaldo fee skewes the 'net spend' figures since then. Like I said previously, whether we sold him for £40m or £80m SAF would still have replaced him with Valencia for £16m.

Can you tell us what is included in player net expenditure Syd and what is excluded? I thought you had actually sifted through the account info rather than just read off a topic heading.

Danny Pughnited

04 May 2013 10:03:43
Personally I think the future looks very bright. We have a top young keeper who after two seasons and much criticism has found his feet and is proving people wrong. Our right back has had a great season, again is improving and is on his way to becoming one of the best in the world. Centre backs, well its great to have Vidic back and getting back to his pre injury form. Evans is starting to look like the player he was tipped to become. Smalling does need more games though and he'll get that next season with Rio taking a back seat. Michael Keane had a great loan at Leicester and looking forward to him making the next step at prem level next year. Left back is still an issue but Evra has improved a little, I think the guy had got complacent and just needed competition. Buttner hasn't played a lot but its his first season so let's see what he can do next year. And we have Fabio to come back. Jones is going to be a top player. I see him in the middle a lot next season given our strength at the back and it'll help his passing. Carrick what a season, good to see him shut a few people up. Cleverley, bit of a rocky one. But there is a good player in there and a lot of the criticism has been over the top. Again next season will be key. Van Persie what needs to be said. We do look light in midfield especially with an older Scholes, a sadly sick Fletcher who we've missed and an Anderson who surely now has ran out of chances. Wings could be better, they all had injury hit seasons stopping the consistency. But zaha looks a good purchase. Two centre midfielders and an inside forward cum winger this Summer, a left back and centre back next summer and a striker in one of those summers and we're pretty much done. And we have some cracking youth a couple of years away. The future's bright. The future's United. MrE

Brilliant optimistic post mate, there is a distinct lack of that on here from some people and sometimes people need to take a step back and look at what we have and how lucky we are.

04 May 2013 12:34:14
Mate its a bank holiday weekend and the sun is shining. Its a half full glass of the good stuff. People tend to focus on the negatives too much. MrE

Good post mate, agree with the vast majority. Enjoy your bank hol.

04 May 2013 09:19:07
Hi guys.
Posting after a while.
Saying you were given a transfer kitty of £ 50m?
Given an option how would you rather spend it - On Cristiano Ronaldo or on Strootman & Lewandowski?

It'd have to be Strootman and Lewy.

I think it's been made clear that to buy Ronaldo any club will have to stump up 100m euro.

04 May 2013 09:03:34
So Fergie is saying there is no outging player sales this summer. Please ditch the dead wood ie Anderson Nani Macheda Bebe not good enough to sit on the bench

Richmond

Richmond,

I am glad you aren't in charge of the club, would you say in the press conference we are looking to get rid of nani, Anderson, macheda? How much do you think people would be willing to pay knowing we are desperate to sell.

How soon will people realise that at this time of year fergie says a lot of things that are for the press and for other teams, and not for us fans to worry about, he has said 3 different things in the last week about what transfers we are going to do, and ed Woodward said something totally different.

Then people come on here and complain about one of the things he said just so they can have a moan. Why don't you take everything with a pinch of salt. If fergie came out tomorrow and said we are looking at 5 players all at 30 million each would you believe him? No, because its ridiculous. So why believe him when he says we won't sell anyone? Because that is just as ridiculous.

We don't know who we will buy and who we will sell, and we shouldn't know because we don't want other teams to know, but what we do know is there will be 2 or 3 players coming in and a few players leaving to help fund the deals, if satisfactory offers are made for them players.

I think the clubs looking to buy nani, Anderson, macheda and all the other dross we've got already know these players are not up to the job. So whatever fergie says, does not matter much.
Nomidfield

04 May 2013 08:51:01
Shahram

What you covering today mate?

Hi Jono

Not that many today.

1. Fiorentina to win and the over
2. Have Bayern and Dortmund drawing and the under
3. Have Arsenal, Villa, city on wins
4. Have wigan, NC drawing
5. Big bet on Frankfurt winning and Leverkuson winning.

Have place some bets on the spanish and french league shortly

Good luck,

Shahram

04 May 2013 07:44:09
I thought for a minute my eyes must of been decieving me, so I re read it and yep sure enough ed07 and Sydney! don't rate Bale.

I truly have heard it all now, if only Southampton had listened to Fergies offer, God knows what you two would be saying about him now.

Sydney! you never fail to astound as someone who posts so much, you have so little football knowledge beyond medals, money and cheap season tickets.

Guess this won't get posted but hey.

UFB

Where did I say I never rated Bale? Bale is a good player. Just nowhere near the level that people are saying. Of course if we signed him for £5m from Southampton then it would have been a great buy, but he isn't worth £50m of our kitty. Where would he play?

Sydney!

Regardless of what the content of a post is? Why do people insist on putting "guess this won't get posted" as if there is some form of conspiracy afoot that means anyone disagreeing with a regular or Ed doesn't get posted? Grow up. If you genuinely believe something won't get posted then why do you bother sending it?

TK-Red

04 May 2013 13:58:28
TK-red,

Thanks for your input, pointless and Sid, kick and run was a term you used and if you couldn't find a place in the Utd team for Gareth Bale that shows how little you know about football.

UFB

UFB, so is Bale a wing wizard? Does he beat players using tricks and skills? No he uses his pace, which makes him a kick and run type of winger like Valencia.

We are lacking a real left-winger so Bale would clearly improve us in that position. But is he worth £50m as a LW? not a chance. Would he play as a 2nd striker for us? No chance.

Would he have his goal tally if he was a LW? Not a chance. Of course we could find a spot for Bale in the team, but is he worth the money that it would take to get him? I don't think so.

Sydney!

The point of his goals tally is that avb moved him to cam to have more of an impact on the game and has reaped the benefits, bale has great close control and fergies comments about him and southamptom are proof in point that he regrets missing out on a gem. ed 07 and your argument that he is only an athlete is pointless (the idea of sport is that your an athlete) what makes ronaldo so versatile and have a big skillset is the fact he is an athlete

04 May 2013 00:16:51
Anyone think Januzaj will get a game or two before the season is out? I really hope so, he's the kind of player or future will be based around, going to be world class!

Caol�n.

Nothing like putting pressure on the lad. The plan is to give the younger lads some game time against Swansea and west brom so yes I would expect him to get a little taste of the action.

He is being fast tracked to the first team and it is pretty obvious why from looking at his ability, but I think he is a year or two away from setting the world on fire, if he does manage to fulfil his obvious potential.

Expecting at least a 15 min cameo in one game, looking forward to seeing him with the big boys. No doubting his talent but we need to be very patient and not expect too much too soon.